OpenAI Targets $30 Billion Round at $1.4 Trillion Valuation as IPO Slips to 2027

OpenAI is in talks to raise at least $30 billion in a new private round that would value the company at roughly $1.4 trillion, according to Bloomberg's original report, independently corroborated by TechCrunch, PYMNTS and other outlets on September 29-30. The figure marks a 64% jump from the $852 billion valuation OpenAI hit in March 2026, when it closed a $122 billion round backed by Amazon, Nvidia and SoftBank. No investors for the new round have been named publicly yet, but the size and speed of the step-up puts OpenAI's paper value within striking distance of SpaceX, which went public in June 2026 at $1.77 trillion.

What makes this round notable isn't just the number — it's the purpose. Multiple outlets, including Blockhead and PYMNTS, describe it explicitly as bridge financing meant to substitute for an IPO, not precede one. OpenAI has confidentially filed IPO paperwork, but CEO Sam Altman has now said twice, in remarks reported by Fortune and TechCrunch, that a public listing this year is off the table and 2027 is the earliest realistic window. That is a reversal from earlier-2026 signaling that a listing could come as soon as this year.

Altman has been unusually direct about why. Rather than citing market conditions — the explanation floated back in June, per Fortune's reporting — he has framed the delay around AI safety and alignment readiness, telling reporters the company still has 'a lot of stuff to do' before it can operate under public-market scrutiny.

"I actually think that, given everything happening with safety, right now would be an ill-advised moment to go public." — Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI

The mechanics of the round matter as much as the framing. Raising $30 billion privately at a trillion-dollar-plus valuation lets OpenAI keep funding its enormous compute commitments — TechCrunch reported run-rate revenue near $40 billion by August, up sharply over the summer — without submitting to quarterly disclosure, public-company governance, or the kind of scrutiny that comes with a listed AI safety controversy. It also means existing backers like Nvidia and SoftBank, along with whichever new investors join, are underwriting a company whose valuation has more than doubled since February 2026, when it was raising money at roughly $830 billion for essentially the same purpose: buying more Nvidia chips.

For the industry, the signal is less about OpenAI specifically than about what late-stage AI financing now looks like: mega-rounds functioning as a parallel track to public markets, letting the most capital-intensive labs keep raising at accelerating valuations while deferring the accountability that comes with going public. With rival Anthropic separately reported to be eyeing a valuation above $2 trillion ahead of its own eventual listing, the two frontier labs are effectively setting the private-market price of foundation-model leadership before either has to answer to public shareholders for it.